How To Create A Successful Customer Feedback Funnel

What is a Customer Feedback Funnel (CFF)?

We’ve all heard of a sales funnel, right? But what about a Customer Feedback Funnel? Have you ever heard of the term? I actually coined the phrase myself to describe the process of acquiring customer feedback through automated systems and surveys. 

A CFF is simply the route that your customers must go through to leave some feedback about their experience.  

The benefits of setting up a CFF are enormous. Let’s look at just a few: 

• Customers are given permission to express their opinion about your company 
• You have access to a constant stream of valuable feedback 
• Feedback can be used to improve your product or services 
• Data from customer feedback can be collected and stored in an efficient way. 

Public or Private Feedback?

There are two types of customer feedback: public and private. Here is an explanation of the two: 

Public Feedback 

There are various public review websites where customers or clients can leave feedback about their interaction with your company. The review will usually be made public immediately after it has been submitted. 

Popular review platforms include Google Reviews, Trustpilot and TripAdvisor. 

Public feedback provides customers with a place to rate your company for the whole world to see. This can work in your favour when positive reviews are posted. Customers are always turning to review sites to decide on where to spend their money. However, the platforms allow negative reviews to be posted which can cause your reputation to be dented. 

The best way to handle negative reviews is by responding to them publicly if the platform allows you too. Take on board negative comments and aim to resolve any issues in your service delivery promptly.

Private Feedback 

Private feedback refers to feedback gathered through surveys being sent to your customers. The feedback is for internal use and only made public at the discretion of your company.

Let’s look at the practicalities of setting up a private feedback funnel and then a public one. 

The Four Stages 

Here are the four stages of a CFF: 

• Experience – Your customer interacts with your company in some way such as a purchase or sales call. 
• Send – Very soon after the interaction, a survey is sent to the customer usually by email or text. 
• Complete – The customer completes the survey
• Review – Results of the survey are stored securely and automatically once the customer submits their response. The collective results can then be reviewed, analysed and acted upon. 

Setting Up Your Funnel 

There are lots of companies that can actually set up a customised CFF for your organisation. This includes a feedback survey, automatically sending the survey and analysing the data. 

However, if you are on a budget or just starting out with customer surveys, you can set up your own funnel by following these steps:

1. Online survey: The first step is to create a questionnaire using a platform such as JotForm or Survey Monkey. The survey should ask 1 – 3 questions. We cover off sample questions further down in this post. 
2. Set a Date: Decide when you want to send your surveys. This could be after every purchase or after every customer interaction. 
3. Automation: Ultimately, you should try and automatically send the survey to customers on the same day as their interaction. For online retailers, you can send a link to your survey within emails that are automatically send after a purchase. For call centre type organisations, the survey can be sent by call staff after a customer phone call. 
4. Analysis: Survey results should be analysed on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis. Look for trends, areas for improvement and common feedback points. 

What Questions To Ask 

Survey questions should be easy to answer and uncomplicated. 

Let’s face it, no one really likes completing surveys. To overcome this, ensure you ask no more than 3 questions about their experience. 

Here are some sample questions you can ask: 

• How likely are you to recommend (company name) to a friend? (scale 1-10) 
• How satisfied are you with the service you received from (company name) today? (Scale 1-10)   
• Why have you given this score? Please tell us in a few words. 

Public Customer Feedback Funnels 

To set up a public CFF, simply choose a public review site that will work best for your business and sign up with them. TripAdvisor works best for restaurants and hotels, Trustpilot works well for retailers and financial services, Google Reviews is great for most businesses especially SME’s. 

Conclusion

To get the most out of customer feedback, I’d advise setting up both a public and private CFF. This will give your customers plenty of opportunities to respond and engage with your business. Ensure to listen to all feedback and make changes to your products or services when necessary. 

Your customers are you biggest asset, so choose to value their opinions and the time they take to complete a review or survey for you.